- globedverbChapter 1 →
Rounded out into a large, curved, ball-like shape, the way a sail billows and swells when filled with wind.
“His shoulders globed like a full sail strung / Between the shafts and the furrow.”
- strungverbChapter 1 →
Stretched tightly and held in place between two fixed points, the way a sail is rigged between spars or ropes.
“His shoulders globed like a full sail strung / Between the shafts and the furrow.”
- shaftsnounChapter 1 →
The two long wooden poles extending from a plough or cart between which a horse is harnessed to pull the implement.
“His shoulders globed like a full sail strung / Between the shafts and the furrow.”
- furrownounChapter 1 →
A long, narrow trench cut into the soil by a plough as it moves across a field.
“Between the shafts and the furrow.”
- wingnounChapter 1 →
The angled metal blade on the side of a plough that cuts and turns the soil over to one side as the plough moves forward.
- sodnounChapter 1 →
A thick slice of earth with grass and roots still attached, cut and turned over by the plough during tilling.
“Fell sometimes on the polished sod.”
- polishedadjectiveChapter 1 →
Smoothed to a shiny surface by the repeated action of the plough blade pressing and turning the earth.
“Fell sometimes on the polished sod.”
- hob-nailedadjectiveChapter 1 →
Fitted with short, heavy-headed metal nails on the sole to give grip and durability — describing the father's heavy work boots.
“I stumbled in his hob-nailed wake,”
- wakenounChapter 1 →
The trail or path left behind a moving person or thing; here, the disturbed ground and footprints left by the father as he walked ahead.
“I stumbled in his hob-nailed wake,”
- stumbledverbChapter 1 →
Tripped or moved unsteadily, losing balance while walking over rough or uneven ground.
“I stumbled in his hob-nailed wake,”
FollowerShort story by Seamus Heaney